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Dr. Nicholas Schiff

Measuring brain activity in response to hearing a brief narrative can identify patients with severe brain injury who have preserved high-level cognition despite showing limited or no consciousness at the bedside, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

Neurology tends to be a tough specialty. I remember our first day of residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. [Jerome] Posner and Dr. [Fred] Plum [MD ’47] said, ‘For neurological patients, you are their last line of defense. Most people don’t understand neurological disease. They are afraid of it. It’s hard to deal with, and this is your job.’

A severely brain injured woman, who recovered the ability to communicate using her left eye, restored connections and function of the areas of her brain responsible for producing expressive language and responding to human speech, according to new research from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.